Ebony and Ivory? Interracial Dating Intentions and Behaviors of Disadvantaged African American Women in Kentucky

Using data from 595 predominantly disadvantaged African American women in Kentucky, this study examines perceptions about racial/ethnic partner availability, cultural mistrust, and racism as correlates of interracial dating intentions and behaviors with both white and Hispanic men. Participants reported levels of dating intentions and behaviors were significantly higher with whites than Hispanics. The multivariate models indicate less cultural mistrust and believing it is easier to find a man of that racial/ethnic category were associated with higher interracial dating intentions. Women were more likely to have dated a white man if they believed it was easier to find a white man and had interracial dating intentions; however, interracial dating intentions was the only significant correlate of having dated a Hispanic man. Findings suggest a shrinking social distance between racial groups, broadening the MMPI for African American women; yet, the low levels of interracial relationships are likely driven by preferences of men

Femtosecond Laser Photoionization Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometry of Nitro-aromatic Explosives and Explosives Related Compounds

The ultrafast laser-induced photoionization and photodissociation processes of the nitroaromatic containing explosive and explosive related compounds (ERCs) nitrobenzene (NB), 1,3-dinitrobenzene (DNB), m-nitrotoluene (MNT), 2,4-dinitrotoluene (DNT), and 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT) have been investigated at three laser wavelengths and power densities using a time-of-flight mass spectrometer. Examination of the mass spectra of these compounds reveals the enhanced formation of the molecular ion [M+] when ultraviolet (332 nm) and visible (495 nm) light is used relative to infrared (795 nm) radiation. In addition, at 795 nm and a power density of 3.5 × 1014 W/cm2, the presence of a competition between multiphoton ionization (MPI) and Coulomb explosion (CE) channels is revealed by peak shape analysis, and is thought to be operative under these conditions for all of the molecules investigated

Stranding of a humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) on the Belgian coast

peer reviewe

Partner Relationships and Injection Sharing Practices Among Rural Appalachian Women

Background—The role of relationships in initiating and maintaining women’s risk behaviors has been established. However, understanding factors that may underlie partner relationships and women’s risky drug use, particularly in rural contexts, is limited. This study is the first to examine the association between injecting partners and women’s risky injection practices as a function of relationship power perception. Methods—Female participants were recruited from three rural jails in the Appalachian region. Women were randomly selected, provided informed consent, and screened for study eligibility criteria. This cross-sectional analysis focuses on women who inject drugs (WWID) during the year before entering jail (n=199). Main findings—Approximately three-quarters (76%) reported having a recent main male sexual partner with a history of injection drug use (IDU). Although having a risky partner independently increased the likelihood of women reporting shared injection practices, perceptions of relationship power significantly moderated the effect on shared needle (AOR = 0.02 [0.003, 0.23]; p = .001) and shared works (AOR = 0.17 [0.03, 0.95]; p = .04) use. Conclusions—This interaction indicated that for WWID with a recent injecting male partner, greater perception of relationship power was associated with a decreased likelihood of shared injection practices. Implications for clinical assessment and intervention are discussed

Two-stage multilevel latent class analysis with covariates in the presence of direct effects

Multivariate analysis of psychological dat

Detection of Atmospheric Cherenkov Radiation Using Solar Heliostat Mirrors

The gamma-ray energy region between 20 and 250 GeV is largely unexplored. Ground-based atmospheric Cherenkov detectors offer a possible way to explore this region, but large Cherenkov photon collection areas are needed to achieve low energy thresholds. This paper discusses the development of a Cherenkov detector using the heliostat mirrors of a solar power plant as the primary collector. As part of this development, we built a prototype detector consisting of four heliostat mirrors and used it to record atmospheric Cherenkov radiation produced in extensive air showers created by cosmic ray particles.Comment: 16 latex pages, 8 postscript figures, uses psfig.sty, to be published in Astroparticle Physic

Constraints on Gamma-ray Emission from the Galactic Plane at 300 TeV

We describe a new search for diffuse ultrahigh energy gamma-ray emission associated with molecular clouds in the galactic disk. The Chicago Air Shower Array (CASA), operating in coincidence with the Michigan muon array (MIA), has recorded over 2.2 x 10^{9} air showers from April 4, 1990 to October 7, 1995. We search for gamma rays based upon the muon content of air showers arriving from the direction of the galactic plane. We find no significant evidence for diffuse gamma-ray emission, and we set an upper limit on the ratio of gamma rays to normal hadronic cosmic rays at less than 2.4 x 10^{-5} at 310 TeV (90% confidence limit) from the galactic plane region: (50 degrees < l < 200 degrees); -5 degrees < b < 5 degrees). This limit places a strong constraint on models for emission from molecular clouds in the galaxy. We rule out significant spectral hardening in the outer galaxy, and conclude that emission from the plane at these energies is likely to be dominated by the decay of neutral pions resulting from cosmic rays interactions with passive target gas molecules.Comment: Astrophysical Journal, submitted, 11 pages, AASTeX Latex, 3 Postscript figure

Variation in genome content and predatory phenotypes between \u3cem\u3eBdellovibrio\u3c/em\u3e sp. NC01 isolated from soil and \u3cem\u3eB. bacteriovorus\u3c/em\u3e type strain HD100

Defining phenotypic and associated genotypic variation among Bdellovibrio may further our understanding of how this genus attacks and kills different Gram-negative bacteria. We isolated Bdellovibrio sp. NC01 from soil. Analysis of 16S rRNA gene sequences and average amino acid identity showed that NC01 belongs to a different species than the type species bacteriovorus. By clustering amino acid sequences from completely sequenced Bdellovibrio and comparing the resulting orthologue groups to a previously published analysis, we defined a ‘core genome’ of 778 protein-coding genes and identified four protein-coding genes that appeared to be missing only in NC01. To determine how horizontal gene transfer (HGT) may have impacted NC01 genome evolution, we performed genome-wide comparisons of Bdellovibrio nucleotide sequences, which indicated that eight NC01 genomic regions were likely acquired by HGT. To investigate how genome variation may impact predation, we compared protein-coding gene content between NC01 and the B. bacteriovorus type strain HD100, focusing on genes implicated as important in successful killing of prey. Of these, NC01 is missing ten genes that may play roles in lytic activity during predation. Compared to HD100, NC01 kills fewer tested prey strains and kills Escherichia coli ML35 less efficiently. NC01 causes a smaller log reduction in ML35, after which the prey population recovers and the NC01 population decreases. In addition, NC01 forms turbid plaques on lawns of E. coli ML35, in contrast to clear plaques formed by HD100. Linking phenotypic variation in interactions between Bdellovibrio and Gram-negative bacteria with underlying Bdellovibrio genome variation is valuable for understanding the ecological significance of predatory bacteria and evaluating their effectiveness in clinical applications

Variation in genome content and predatory phenotypes between Bdellovibrio sp. NC01 isolated from soil and B. bacteriovorus type strain HD100

© The Author(s), 2019. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Williams, L. E., Cullen, N., DeGiorgis, J. A., Martinez, K. J., Mellone, J., Oser, M., Wang, J., & Zhang, Y. Variation in genome content and predatory phenotypes between Bdellovibrio sp. NC01 isolated from soil and B. bacteriovorus type strain HD100. Microbiology, 165(12), (2019): 1315-1330, doi: 10.1099/mic.0.000861.Defining phenotypic and associated genotypic variation among Bdellovibrio may further our understanding of how this genus attacks and kills different Gram-negative bacteria. We isolated Bdellovibrio sp. NC01 from soil. Analysis of 16S rRNA gene sequences and average amino acid identity showed that NC01 belongs to a different species than the type species bacteriovorus. By clustering amino acid sequences from completely sequenced Bdellovibrio and comparing the resulting orthologue groups to a previously published analysis, we defined a ‘core genome’ of 778 protein-coding genes and identified four protein-coding genes that appeared to be missing only in NC01. To determine how horizontal gene transfer (HGT) may have impacted NC01 genome evolution, we performed genome-wide comparisons of Bdellovibrio nucleotide sequences, which indicated that eight NC01 genomic regions were likely acquired by HGT. To investigate how genome variation may impact predation, we compared protein-coding gene content between NC01 and the B. bacteriovorus type strain HD100, focusing on genes implicated as important in successful killing of prey. Of these, NC01 is missing ten genes that may play roles in lytic activity during predation. Compared to HD100, NC01 kills fewer tested prey strains and kills Escherichia coli ML35 less efficiently. NC01 causes a smaller log reduction in ML35, after which the prey population recovers and the NC01 population decreases. In addition, NC01 forms turbid plaques on lawns of E. coli ML35, in contrast to clear plaques formed by HD100. Linking phenotypic variation in interactions between Bdellovibrio and Gram-negative bacteria with underlying Bdellovibrio genome variation is valuable for understanding the ecological significance of predatory bacteria and evaluating their effectiveness in clinical applications.This research was supported by an Institutional Development Award (IDeA) from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences of the National Institutes of Health under grant no. P20GM103430 and by funding to LEW from Providence College. This material is based upon work conducted at a Rhode Island NSF EPSCoR research facility, the Genomics and Sequencing Center, supported in part by the National Science Foundation EPSCoR Cooperative Agreement #EPS-1004057. This material is based upon work supported in part by the National Science Foundation under EPSCoR Cooperative Agreement #OIA-1655221. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and interpretation, or the decision to submit the work for publication